Steinberg recounts 'the wreckage I've created'

Leigh Steinberg teaches a Sports Law class: The Art of Negotiation in the Entertainment Industry, at UCI Law School. The man once considered the most powerful agent in sports, filed for Chapter 7 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday.MINDY SCHAUER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Leigh Steinberg was the biggest agent in sports long before "show me the money," the iconic catch phrase from the Steinberg-inspired film "Jerry Maguire," became part of the everyday American vocabulary.

During his career Steinberg had negotiated contracts reportedly worth more than $2 billion for a client list that included Super Bowl winning quarterbacks Steve Young, Troy Aikman and Ben Roethlisberger, and world champion boxer Oscar De La Hoya. An unprecedented eight of Steinberg's clients were selected as the top overall pick in the NFL Draft.

But by 2009 the Newport Beach-based agent, had by his own admission, "hit rock bottom."

He was unable to work as an agent, decertified by the NFL Players Association, was millions of dollars in debt and facing a series of lawsuits. Two of his children were afflicted with retinitis pigmentosa, an eye disease that causes near blindness. He had lost his home and his marriage. And after bouncing in and out of rehab for two years, he was losing his battle with alcoholism.

"By 2009 I was focused on sobriety and not focused on lawsuits," Steinberg said. "I had people telling me 'Hey, you've got to save your life.'"

An interview with Steinberg, 62, by The Orange County Register and documents filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court this week reveal how the life of one of American sport's most influential figures, the original uber agent, unraveled, a fall from grace that mirrors the script of the blockbuster film he inspired minus, at least for now, the Hollywood ending.

"I felt like I was in the movie Pinocchio, in that scene where the kids go off to the island and they smoke and drink and break windows," Steinberg said. "The only problem is they turn into donkeys."

Steinberg, who once negotiated a series of record-setting, multi-million dollar deals for Hall of Fame clients, filed for Chapter 7 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana on Wednesday, saying he is $3.18 million in debt His list of creditors include a former NFL player, a top college coach, a prominent Orange County company, a group of Philadelphia-area businessmen and a local socialite, according to documents filed in the case.

"The wreckage I've created," he said referring not only to his financial problems.

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Steinberg owes the Irvine Company $1.4 million in back rent for his Newport Beach office space, according to court documents. He also owes former USC and NFL running back Chad Morton $450,000, SMU coach June Jones $90,000, a group of Philadelphia are investors $350,000 and Orange County socialite Janice Agopian $150,000. Steinberg also owes the franchise tax board $10,464, the Internal Revenue Service $17,384 and the Mercer (New Jersey) County tax collector $73,041.

Steinberg is currently unemployed and lists $483,500 in assets, most of it property. He also lists among his assets a Vizio flat screen television worth $1,000, $150 in clothes, $50 in personal memorabilia, a 2001 Mercury Mountaineer worth $6,700 and as well as $475,000 in stock in Kool Systems.

"I really regret it came to bankruptcy," Steinberg said, "because these people lent me money or services in good faith."

In 1993, Steinberg negotiated a $50-million deal for Aikman with the Dallas Cowboys, the largest ever NFL contract at the time. The deal included an $11-million bonus, another record. The Aikman deal would later be surpassed by a deal put together by Steinberg for New England quarterback Drew Bledsoe.

But it would be the Steinberg firm's dealing with an NFL journeyman that led to the unraveling of the agent's career and finances. Morton, a fifth-round draft choice in the 2000 draft, played for four teams as a running back and kick/punt returner in seven seasons in the NFL. Attempts to reach Morton, now a Green Bay special teams assistant, on Thursday were unsuccessful.

Leigh Steinberg teaches a Sports Law class: The Art of Negotiation in the Entertainment Industry, at UCI Law School. The man once considered the most powerful agent in sports, filed for Chapter 7 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday. MINDY SCHAUER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Sports agent Leigh Steinberg, who inspired the movie character Jerry Maguire, teaches a Sports Law class, The Art of Negotiation in the Entertainment Industry, at UCI Law School. He filed for Chapter 7 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday. MINDY SCHAUER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Sports agent Leigh Steinberg, teaches a Sports Law class, The Art of Negotiation in the Entertainment Industry, at UCI Law School. He filed for Chapter 7 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday. He also sent an email to family, friends and The Orange County Register, admitting to suffering from alcoholism. MINDY SCHAUER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
During better times, sports agent Leigh Steinberg waits as lights are adjusted before an interview. FILE PHOTO

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